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NEWS<br />
P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S<br />
Gamers and Lights Go Pro<br />
TORONTO, ONTARIO — Lighting Designer<br />
Nick Wisdom specified a Jands Vista S3 console<br />
and 32 Chroma-Q Color Blocks as part<br />
of his lighting rig for the Boost Mobile Major<br />
League Gaming Pro Circuit Tour 2006, an organized<br />
league for professional video gaming.<br />
The debut tour visited seven U.S. cities<br />
and saw around 200 teams of four per city<br />
<strong>com</strong>peting in the Xbox “Halo 2” tournament<br />
for large cash prizes and a place in the final<br />
in Las Vegas.<br />
Production for the live event was by LubieRocks,<br />
Inc, with management and scenic<br />
design by David Elliott, lighting design/programming<br />
by Nick Wisdom, graphics/video<br />
by Don Fisher and audio by Paul Tucci.<br />
The tour was also filmed for a seven-part<br />
U.S. cable TV series, which included live game<br />
play, interviews and gaming tips.<br />
The “Mainstage Arena,” which was reserved<br />
for the city finals and other key matches<br />
along the way, consisted of a custom set<br />
that housed eight gaming stations for two<br />
<strong>com</strong>peting teams and an audience bleacher<br />
seating area under the main truss rig. In-game<br />
footage was also shown on three large projection<br />
screens.<br />
Lighting the arena presented some interesting<br />
challenges for the production team,<br />
who had to strike the right balance between<br />
creating an exciting event for the different<br />
live and TV audiences, while at the same time<br />
avoid distracting <strong>com</strong>peting gamers with the<br />
haze and bright lights.<br />
Fortunately, the production team rose to<br />
the challenge, using the decision to rent the<br />
lighting rig in each city as an opportunity to<br />
experiment with the lighting design’s fixtures,<br />
angles and set-ups to constantly work on<br />
ways to make the show more interesting for<br />
both audiences at the same time.<br />
In addition to the rental rigs’ various<br />
moving lights and conventional fixtures, the<br />
production team purchased Chroma-Q Color<br />
Block DB4 LEDs and used Wisdom’s own<br />
Jands Vista S3 lighting control console as core<br />
equipment for the tour after being convinced<br />
that both products were vital to the set’s<br />
lighting design.<br />
The Color Blocks were originally just<br />
meant to add some color and interest to the<br />
set, but ended up being integral to the filming<br />
when the TV show producers discussed<br />
using them to denote teams’ colors.<br />
Color Blocks uplit the gaming stations<br />
and truss pillars on each side of the stage<br />
in blue and red team colors. Various effects<br />
were employed, including running an intensity<br />
chase across the truss in the color of the<br />
winning team at the end of each match. Color<br />
Blocks were also used to tone the main overhead<br />
truss rig supporting the various moving<br />
and conventional fixtures during downtime,<br />
to ensure the arena was visible while the<br />
tournament ran.<br />
Wisdom <strong>com</strong>mented: “The Color Blocks<br />
really jazzed up the set and added another<br />
layer of fun to the show. Having them in the<br />
set meant the truss was always changing colors<br />
and added a really nice look to the room.”<br />
When Wisdom first saw the Jands Vista, it<br />
quickly became evident to him that this was<br />
a desk that thought the same way he did, so<br />
he arranged a day’s training with Vista North<br />
American distributor A.C. Lighting. Despite<br />
his rule of never bringing equipment into a<br />
show that he’d only spent a couple of days<br />
on, Wisdom decided to take a gamble and<br />
rented a Vista out of his own pocket for the<br />
first Orlando MLG show so he could show the<br />
production team what a new console could<br />
add to the event.<br />
He <strong>com</strong>mented: “Normally I would want a<br />
Before the games began<br />
lot more playtime on a desk before I’ll throw<br />
it into the mix. However, after playing with the<br />
offline editor of the console for a few weeks<br />
and receiving the fantastic training from A.C. I<br />
felt very confident I would be fine with it. The<br />
show in Orlando went great and the Vista really<br />
opened up a lot of options for me, especially<br />
with the LEDs, so we were convinced it<br />
was the way to go.”<br />
InBrief<br />
Sew What? Inc. When created a<br />
1,500-yard, 360-degree stage curtain for<br />
Rod Steward’s new 2007 tour… Theatrical<br />
Lighting Systems, Inc. (TLS,Inc.) has<br />
donated a total of $2117.44 to the Susan<br />
G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation/<br />
North Central Alabama Affiliate in honor<br />
of Sandra Glover.<br />
Ad info:http:// www.plsn.<strong>com</strong>/instant-info<br />
Lightronics Celebrates 25 Years<br />
continued from front cover<br />
“Though we started in the entertainment<br />
lighting industry, and continue to support that<br />
important market, we now are really focusing<br />
on the <strong>com</strong>mercial architectural market,” Nelson<br />
said in a 2005 exclusive interview with <strong>PLSN</strong>.<br />
“This is a natural progression from our presence<br />
in worship facilities. We are also looking to expanding<br />
further into the educational market,<br />
our cost efficient yet durable lighting control<br />
equipment is a great fit for schools where budgets<br />
are getting squeezed harder each year.”<br />
Lightronics hallmark is their five-year warranty<br />
they offer for all of their products. They<br />
also pride themselves in their customer service<br />
Feedback<br />
Not That You’d Want To<br />
by providing live operators and telephone support<br />
rather than making users submit to an automated<br />
answering system.<br />
Long-time employees include Tammy Collins,<br />
VP of operations and Shannon Heederick, who<br />
rose from a shipping clerk to marketing director<br />
in seven years. Don Poppendick has been chief<br />
technician and head of customer support for<br />
more than 11 years.<br />
In the year of their 25 th anniversary, Lightronics<br />
is now offering much more <strong>com</strong>pact<br />
dimmers and such technology as wireless<br />
control. The Virginia Beach, Virginia-based<br />
<strong>com</strong>pany has <strong>com</strong>e a long way from Kevin<br />
Nelson’s garage.<br />
The December 2006 Technopolis column<br />
“Controlknobs & Broomsticks” gives<br />
us a good insight into the potential of ACN<br />
– ANSI E1.17. However, there is one error<br />
in the description of the standard. It is not<br />
“an Ethernet-based ANSI standard” — it is<br />
a suite of protocols that works with TCP/IP<br />
— the language of the Internet.<br />
Ethernet may be the most <strong>com</strong>mon<br />
medium that ACN is implemented over, but<br />
it is by no means the only way. For example,<br />
a controller in Los Angeles could be configured<br />
to control dimmers or automated<br />
lighting in London with ACN (not that you<br />
would necessarily want to, but you could).<br />
Regards,<br />
Mitch Hefter<br />
Member, ESTA Technical Standards<br />
Committee & Control Protocols Working<br />
Group Chair,<br />
USITT DMX512 Committee and ANSI<br />
E1.11 DMX512-A Task Group<br />
USITT Engineering Vice-Commissioner<br />
Blue, Green<br />
and Grand<br />
On Tour<br />
continued from front cover<br />
video into another. The lighting<br />
cuestack triggers the video cuestack.”<br />
Scharff Weisberg, which programmed<br />
Blue Man Group’s last tour<br />
and served as design consultants and<br />
system engineers for the sit-down<br />
shows, furnished “How to Be a Megastar<br />
Tour 2.0” with three Green Hippo<br />
HD players, an iLite 6XP LED wall, Olite<br />
510 LED strip displays, two Christie<br />
Roadster S+16 projectors and a <strong>com</strong>plement<br />
of Sony cameras.<br />
The Green Hippo HD players run<br />
through Artnet boxes into an Ethernet<br />
system. The video switcher for IMAG runs<br />
through the grandMA, as well as the iLite<br />
wall and Olite strip displays.<br />
“I love working with the grandMAs,”<br />
Boland reports. “The thing that attracts<br />
me the most is how user friendly it is.<br />
I’m able to set it up to ac<strong>com</strong>modate my<br />
programming habits for a smooth transition<br />
from any other console.”<br />
The artistic director for Blue Man<br />
Group is Caryl Glaab. The project manager<br />
for Scharff Weisberg was John Ackerman,<br />
and Scharff Weisberg’s programmer<br />
was Sean Cagney.<br />
<br />
<strong>PLSN</strong> FEBRUARY 2007<br />
www.<strong>PLSN</strong>.<strong>com</strong>
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